When I was a child every December we went downtown to see the lighting of the huge Christmas tree on Courthouse Square in Dayton. We sang carols along with my dad’s Tuba Christmas group and drank hot chocolate and visited the Talking Christmas Tree. The Talking Christmas Tree wasn’t the biggest tree on the square, or the most fancifully decorated. It was really a fairly unremarkable tree except for its central feature- it could talk.  Every year my brother and I would say hi to the tree and it would ask what we wanted for Christmas and tell us to be good for Santa. 

The Talking Christmas Tree was a special and rare treat but one year I, a talkative child by any account, was struck speechless when we approached the tree and it called us by our names. “Well hello, it’s Katie and Tommy Landis, along with their parents Janet and Ray!” the tree remarked. The Talking Christmas Tree had never known our names before! “Are you excited to sing at church with the children’s choir this Sunday?” the tree asked us. I couldn’t respond, my mouth was hanging open with surprise. I couldn’t help but note that while there were other children everywhere, the tree was only calling us by name. While I had quietly suspected that I was quite a special little girl this confirmed it. I was speechless all evening, reveling in being recognized by such an esteemed figure as the Talking Christmas Tree. 

Years later my parents confided that the Talking Christmas Tree was actually voiced by a man from our church who had known us our whole lives. He was an actor who had gigs all over town- he was on local TV commercials for car dealerships and in the plays that we saw on field trips. I was fortunate to grow up surrounded by kind adults from my congregation who made my life more interesting and delightful. This was one of many times everyday things were more fun because of the grown-ups in my church community. 

We are Unitarian Universalists and so we practice our religion in many different ways. Some of us celebrate Christmas, some Hanukkah, some Solstice, some another holy day or no winter holidays. We are also in a strange time of pandemic and varying levels of quarantine and social isolation. So this will probably be a different holiday season than those we have experienced in years past. However you celebrate I hope you can find a way to make a little magic for someone in your life. Maybe that means leaving cookies on a friend’s porch, or sending a hand-made holiday card to a child in our church family. Maybe you will candy-cane-bomb a friend’s front yard by covering it with candy canes planted in the snow. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, or expensive. Find some way to make a person feel special, seen and appreciated, this holiday. 

As I mentioned last year at this time, the winter holidays are difficult during normal times, and more so during a global pandemic. If you feel sad, or stressed out, or like hibernating, go easy on yourself. Give yourself a lot of grace this season. Try to reach out to friends who make you feel good about yourself and set boundaries with anyone who makes you feel bad. Call me and arrange a time for us to talk. Ask for the help you need knowing that you deserve it, because you have inherent worth and dignity. If it’s hard to remember that you are a holy and sacred being, make a post-it note reminding yourself that your minister said you are awesome and she means it. 

We will get through this season of darkness and cold by being kind to ourselves and to each other. Bring some delight to this world, if you can. You are a wonderful blessing. 

Rev Kate